I'm preparing to take the LCSW exam. As a way to study, I am following along the content areas in the guide book & I'll post regular updates with information about the various content areas. Please feel free to comment with additional information, other resources, or general commentary. Thanks for visiting!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

This goes out to all my CISes (those are crisis intervention specialists, if you didn't know). Most folks think of Roberts as THE crisis guy, and his seven stage model is included in pretty much every crisis intervention manual ever.

Assess safety & lethality – Begin with a fast yet thorough biopsychosocial assessment.You want to find out what the supports & stressors are, any medical issues, medications, any current substance use, and coping strategies & resources.If there is concern about suicidality, you want to find out what the thoughts are, if there is intent & the strength of the intent, whether there is a plan & if the plan is potentially lethal, any history of past attempts, and other specific risk factors (substance abuse, social isolation, losses such as divorce or employment).

Rapport building – In a crisis, you must do this quickly & it will ideally happen as part of your assessment.Here, we harken to Rogers’s warmth, genuineness and empathy.These three skills will go a long way in developing rapport with your client in crisis.

Problem identification – Find out from the client why things have come to a head.There is usually a so-called last straw, but you also want to find out what other problems the client is concerned about.It can also be useful to prioritize the problems in terms of which problems the client wants to work on first.

Address feelings – Validate, validate, validate!You want to let the client vent about his or her feelings about the crisis.This is achieved using active listening skills, like paraphrasing, reflective listening and probing questions.With caution, you can also challenge maladaptive beliefs.

Generating alternatives – This is where you come up with a plan.The clinician and the client (ideally) begin to come up with options that will help improve the current situation.You can brainstorm about possibilities or ask about what has been helpful in the past as ways to get the client’s input.

Develop action plan – This is where you shift from a crisis to a resolution.The client & worker will begin to take the steps negotiated in the previous stage.This is also where the client will begin to make meaning of the crisis event.

Follow up – The follow up can take on many forms.A postcrisis evaluation may look at the client’s current functioning and assess the client’s progress and satisfaction with treatment.It can also involve phone or in person visits at specific intervals.

Bandura’s social learning theory is sometimes seen as a bridge between cognitive and behavioral theories because he believed that people learn by observing others, which involves cognition (memory, attitude, beliefs) and behavior (actions taken, rewards).He posited that children learn by observing the actions of others, such as parents, siblings & other peers.This observation leads to the acquisition of new skills & information.Intrinsic reinforcements such as a sense of pride, accomplishment & satisfaction also lead to learning.

Bandura developed this theory in part by conducting what was called the Bobo doll experiment.Here, a video is work a thousand words: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4586465813762682933.Basically, Bandura found that kids who watched a video of an adult aggressing upon an inflatable doll would in turn aggress upon a similar doll.Bandura’s research primarily concentrated on the impact of TV violence on children’s behaviors.

Bandura thought that four processes were necessary for the child or other observer to learn a behavior via social modeling.

Attention: Obviously you have to be paying attention to what the other people are doing to learn anything from it.If I’m ignoring the people on the dance floor, I’m not going to learn to dance just by standing close by.

Retention: You have to remember the stimuli to imitate later.

Reproduction: This is when you reproduce the image of what you observed.You have to have the physical capability to do so.

Motivation: There has to be some reason that you want to recreate what you observed.Some reasons might be positive reinforcement (a reward, a promise of a reward) or a negative reinforcement (punishment of some kind).

The main critique of Bandura’s theory is that it does not reliably predict behavior.In his experiments, the relationship between observing & recreating violence was strong.In later longitudinal studies, the relationship was much weaker.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Just to keep things interesting, I'm going to start mixing in some posts based on a study guide I created for my clinical practice course final exam. See, kiddies, it pays to hang on to old study materials! Today, we'll start with some overview information on crisis intervention.

Edited to add: Upon listening to the social work podcast on crisis intervention, I realized that this post is essentially a summary of that podcast. You can listen to that podcast here: http://socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com/2007/01/crisis-intervention-and-suicide.html
Since Jonathan, the host of the social work podcast, is so kind as to include on his blog a properly formatted APA reference, here that is as well.
Singer, J. B. (Host). (2007, January 29). Crisis intervention and suicide assessment: Part 1 - history and assessment [Episode 3]. Social Work Podcast. Podcast retrieved October 1, 2011, from http://socialworkpodcast.com/2007/01/crisis-intervention-and-suicide.html

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

MDD is characterized by one or more major depressive episodes & no history of manic, hypomanic or mixed episodes.MDD can begin at any age but most often onsets in the mid-20s.The course can be quite variable.Some people may have isolated episodes of depression with remissions of many years; others may have clusters of episodes with brief remissions.You can use specifiers to indicate the course of the disorder, such as the specifier “With Full Interepisode Recovery” or “Without Full Interepisode Recovery.”

The criteria:

Presence of a single major depressive episode (see previous post)

Episode is not better accounted for by schizoaffective disorder & is not superimposed on schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, delusional disorder, or psychotic disorder not otherwise specified.

There has never been a manic, mixed or hypomanic episode unless that episode is substance or treatment induced or due to a general medical condition.

If the full criteria are met at the current time for a major depressive episode, specify its current clinical status and/or features:

Mild (with 5 – 6 symptoms of a major depressive episode), moderate (between mild & severe), severe with psychotic features (with most symptoms of a depressive episode and psychosis) or severe without psychotic features (with most of the symptoms & no psychosis)

Chronic – full criteria have been met for a major depressive episode for at least the previous 2 years

With catatonic features – with 2 of the following

Motor immobility as evidenced by muscular rigidity or stupor

Excessive motor activity that serves no evident purpose & is not influenced by external stimuli

Extreme negativism (resistance to instructions with no evident motive or maintenance of a rigid posture against attempts to be moved) or mutism

Friday, September 2, 2011

Mood disorders are characterized by having mood episodes.I will here define the types of mood episodes: major depressive episode, manic episode, mixed episode and hypomanic episode.The presence of these mood episodes will define mood disorders, which will be covered in subsequent posts.

Major Depressive Episode

5 or more of the following symptoms during the same 2 week period; must have either depressed mood or loss of interest/pleasure.

Depressed mood for most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either self report or observation made by others. (In children/adolescents, mood by be irritable, rather than classically depressed.)

Diminished pleasure in all or nearly all activities for most of the day nearly every day.Again, this may be indicated by self report or observation made by others.

Weight loss or gain (more than 5% in a month), or increase or decrease in appetite nearly every day.(In children/adolescents, look for the child not to gain weight as expected.

Insomnia/hypersomnia nearly every day.

Psychomotor agitation/retardation nearly every day (must be observable by others; not just feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).

Fatigue/loss of energy nearly every day.

Feelings of worthlessness/excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.Guilt may be delusional & must be more than just self-reproach about being sick.

Diminished ability to think, concentrate or make decisions nearly every day, indicated by either self report or observations of others.

Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan or a suicide attempt or suicide plan.

Symptoms do not meet the criteria for a mixed episode.

Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition.

Symptoms are not better accounted for by bereavement.Diagnosis may be made if the symptoms persist for longer than two months, or are characterized by marked functional impairment.

Manic Episode

Period of abnormally & persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood, lasting at least one week (or less if hospitalization is required).

During the period, three or more of the following symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only irritable), and the symptoms have been present to a significant degree:

Inflated self esteem/grandiosity

Decreased need for sleep (feeling rested after only a few hours)

More talkative than usual/pressure to keep talking

Flight of ideas or report of racing thoughts

Distractibility

Increase in goal-directed activity in any life sphere or psychomotor agitation

Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a potential for danger or harm (shopping sprees, gambling, risky investments).

The symptoms do not meet the criteria for a mixed episode.

The mood disturbance causes marked impairment in social or occupational functioning.If there is psychosis, this criterion is considered to have been met.

The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition.

Mixed Episode

Mixed episodes may evolve out of a manic or major depressive episode, or can arise on their own.A mixed episode can turn into a major depressive episode, or may remit to an asymptomatic period.It is unusual for a mixed episode to turn into a manic episode.Mixed episodes, by definition, must last longer than one week.

The criteria are met both for a manic & a major depressive episode (except for duration) for at least one week.

The symptoms must cause impairment in social or occupational functioning, require hospitalization, or have psychotic features.

The symptoms are not caused by the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition.

Hypomanic Episode

Hypomanic episodes are essentially manic episodes that do not cause impairment in functioning.The criteria are below, and you will find that the criteria are identical to the criteria for a manic episode except for the difference noted above & shorter duration.

Period of persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood, lasting at least 4 days & is clearly different from the normal nondepressed mood.

During the period, three or more of the following symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only irritable), and the symptoms have been present to a significant degree:

Inflated self esteem/grandiosity

Decreased need for sleep (feels rested after only a few hours)

More talkative than usual/pressure to keep talking

Flight of ideas or report of racing thoughts

Distractibility

Increase in goal-directed activity in any life sphere or psychomotor agitation

Excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a potential for danger or harm (shopping sprees).

The episode is associated with an unequivocal change in functioning that is not typical of the person when they are not having symptoms.

The disturbance is observable by others.

The mood disturbance does not cause marked impairment in social or occupational functioning.

The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance or a general medical condition.